The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 597 cleared! Finally, I don't have to be looked down upon by the armored monsters anymore!
Shen Le staggered through the beacon tower, desperately turning over the corpses.

Old Huang, the veteran in his fifties, who was just yesterday saying, "My second son gave me a grandson," and was planning to get a silver bracelet and have someone send it back to his hometown, collapsed face down on the ground.

He had been stabbed three times in the back; the blood had congealed and was cold. His hands were still clutching half of the broken sword, the blade deeply embedded in the enemy's chest.

Gouwazi, one of the two local boys, leaned against the stone wall, his eyes wide open, fear and pain etched on his face.

A glint of gold shone from the outside of his breastplate—a hairpin with a gold head and silver horns, a spoil of war he had received a few days ago. The young man held the hairpin with great joy, saying that when he returned to the city after his rotation, he would use this hairpin to propose marriage.

Ah Gu, who was one of the reinforcements from the Central Plains along with Ah Li, had his right arm severed at the shoulder, his left hand tightly gripping his right, even the steel knife clenched together.

He fell to the ground, his eyes wide with rage, his left leg bent and his right leg extended, still maintaining a charging stance...

There's also Zhao Xiaohu, Liu Yusheng, Erzhuma...

All gone.

As evening fell, they sat around the same campfire, scooping meat from the same pot of soup, dreaming about the future, laughing and joking with each other...

All gone.

Not a single one, alive or not.

They fought off at least three times their number of enemies. No, Shen Le looked around at the corpses of the enemies—some with white hair, some with youthful faces, and occasionally some young men:

He didn't know exactly how many he had killed, but with two spears broken and two knives shattered, he had probably killed at least a dozen people.

Even so, the ground was littered with corpses, so many that there was no place to step on the top of the beacon tower. There were probably at least twenty people besides the ones he killed.

and so……

Why did the Tibetans go to such great lengths to destroy this beacon tower when autumn had arrived and they should have been hastily withdrawing?

Shen Le leaned against the cold stone wall, panting for a while. Feeling his strength returning a little, he staggered to his feet, dragged the corpse aside, gathered firewood, and began to light a fire.
The previous smoke of battle had been extinguished by corpses and blood. Now, he needed to quickly light a torch and alert the city gate!
One beacon fire, two beacon fires, three beacon fires. The straw and mugwort used for lighting the beacon fires were usually bundled up and didn't need to be arranged separately; all that was needed was to light them.

Flames shot into the sky. Shen Le glanced one last time at the beacon tower and began to remove his armor.

The already chopped-up shoulder blade was untied and thrown away;
Take off the heavy armor and put on a light leather suit;

He then chose a relatively intact spear, a steel sword without a dull blade, a bow, and a quiver of arrows, and trudged off into the distance:

Go to the fortress!
Go to the fortress!
The horses were indeed gone. Judging from the marks on the ground, they must have been taken away by the attacking enemy. It's unclear whether they were led away or their reins were cut and they were simply released.

Shen Le ran down the mountain, but after only running halfway, he saw a long, dragon-like procession moving in the distance at the foot of the mountain.

He crept quietly behind a large rock and listened intently. After hearing only two sentences, a surge of anger welled up within him:
"Sir... slow down... please slow down... the child can't walk..."

"Can't walk? If you can't walk, just throw it away!"

The man's gruff voice shouted angrily. His accent was a complex mix of Tibetan, Uyghur, and Tang Dynasty dialects, meaning only locals could understand him without difficulty.

As soon as the words were spoken, the cries of children and the screams of women suddenly rose high into the air:

"what--"

"Mommy, Mommy—"

"Sir! Sir, spare my life!"

Cries, shouts, struggles, and scuffs filled the air. A moment later, a heavy thud silenced the child's cries, followed immediately by the woman's heart-wrenching sobs.
"Ah Hu—"

A sharp crack of the whip ripped through the air and tore through flesh. Shen Le's breath caught in his throat. The next moment, a rough, greasy voice broke in:
"Alright, alright, stop hitting her. We still have a long way to go. If she gets hurt, she won't be able to get back—the more people we take with us, the more reward we get, and who knows, maybe we'll get another wife, right?"

"So what if one gets damaged? These delicate young women are mostly gone for good, and will end up being sold to those vultures for nothing!"

The man who had attacked first answered gruffly. He paused, then reached out again to grab:
"Rather than wait for her to die in the wasteland, I'd rather have some fun first!"

Screams, struggles, and heart-wrenching cries suddenly rose in volume. Shen Le's mind went blank; he gripped the knife in one hand and dug the other hand fiercely into the ground.
Wait, wait a little longer. Rushing out now might only save that woman, or it might save neither of them.
Once he figured out how many people were in the group, if they were few, he might be able to take a gamble, kill all the enemies, and bring these women and children back!

He slowly crawled forward. Using the darkness to conceal himself, he stepped over a rock, over a clump of bushes, and over a thicket of grass.

As they climbed, they listened intently, carefully observing each raised section of the terrain:
The team consisted of about two or three hundred people, who made their way along the winding mountain path in the dark.

The vast majority were captured prisoners. At the head and tail of the group, there was a small team guarding them, while another small team was scattered in the middle, running back and forth, shouting and urging them on.
"That's thirty people." Shen Le silently counted the numbers, his eyes shining brightly in the darkness:
“These enemies… if it were one-on-one, one by one, I’m confident I could take on thirty of them. But if they all swarm me…”

Without the advantage of terrain, without any allies, and with five or six spears thrusting at him, plus arrows from the surrounding area, he would be doomed if he dared to charge forward.

To achieve a perfect kill, you either need to ambush them or split them up into groups of ten, or ideally groups of five or six...

Shen Le began frantically searching his memory. Fortunately, Ah Li had been stationed nearby for a long time and was very familiar with the surrounding terrain:
He knew exactly where the road was wide and narrow, where there were bends and where there were large rocks.
If the group continues forward for at most two miles, there will be a narrow pass, and on the mountaintop, there are two huge rocks that look like houses, standing tall.

If we could push a boulder down the hillside, we could at least cut the team in two, and then...

It's done!

Shen Le quietly leaped up and reached for the boulder. He rummaged around under the boulder, emptying out a large pile of rubble;

He then inserted his spear into the other side, shook it, and felt that it could be moved.
He leaped up again, quickly slipped to the back of the group, found a narrow spot, and continued digging for stones. Seeing that about half the group had passed, he silently said "Forgive me" to himself, and with all his might, pushed downwards!
The boulder tumbled down with a deafening roar. Below, on the mountain path, screams, cries, shoving, and angry shouts erupted.

Smoke billowed, the crowd scattered in panic, punctuated by rough warning cries:

"Enemy attack——"

At this point, Shen Le no longer cared about concealing himself. He leaped up, spread his arms, and soared like a bird towards the boulder.

The bowstrings whistled below as arrows rained down, but fortunately they were inaccurate, allowing him to dodge them without needing to move.

They pried off another boulder, watching it fall down the mountain amidst billowing dust. Shen Le took a deep breath and, using the dust as cover, rushed down with it!
kill!

kill!

These Tibetans who came to burn, kill, and plunder—it's good to kill them one by one!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
As he charged downhill, he fired repeatedly, felling two enemies in one go. Immediately following, his steel blade flashed as he plunged into the crowd!
Shen Le pushed the heat to its limit. Although he couldn't use magic in this memory, the heat significantly enhanced his strength and physique.
With complete concentration, Ah Li's lifelong martial arts skills, his own physical abilities, and the Five Animal Frolics techniques given by the copper plate seemed to merge together.

Under the circulation of heat, although he didn't grow three heads and six arms, or be able to throw fireballs, he became more agile, stronger, and had better hearing and eyesight...

"kill!"

With a single stroke, a fountain of blood gushed forth, and the Tibetan who had swung the blade fell headlong to the ground.

"kill!"

An arm carrying a steel knife flew far away; Shen Le twisted and hooked his wrist, and the tip of the knife grazed the enemy's throat.
"kill!"

The Tibetan roared and shouted, grabbing a woman at random and using her as a shield in front of him...

The blade paused briefly. Shen Le leaped to the side, and before the Tibetan could react, he leaped behind him and slashed at the man's neck.

The bone struck the steel knife with a terrifying cracking sound. Shen Le pulled his hand back, then froze in surprise:
No twitching!
its stuck!
"Sir! Over here!"

A loud shout came from behind him. He turned around abruptly, and a steel blade flew towards him, spinning wildly.

Further away, a woman was raising her hands high, as if to throw a steel knife...

You overestimate me... If I hadn't dodged in time, that knife would have slashed right at me.

Shen Le cursed inwardly, but dared not reach out to grab it. Instead, he picked up the Tibetan man whose neck he had cut off and lifted him up.

The steel blade struck the Tibetan woman squarely. Shen Le quickly put the man down, drew his sword, and faced the next enemy… “Put down your sword! Or I’ll kill her!”

In the distance, torches flickered, and someone roared loudly. Shen Le looked up and saw a Tibetan soldier holding a woman, a steel knife to her neck.

The woman cried, struggled, and begged for mercy. She begged the Tibetan soldiers for mercy, and she begged Shen Le for mercy as well:
"Sir! Put down the knife—please put down the knife—I don't want to die..."

If that were all, Shen Le could grit her teeth and turn away. But instead, beneath the woman, a tiny child, barely reaching her waist, clung to his mother's leg, swaying and crying:

"Mommy—Mommy—"

Shen Le was stunned for a moment. In that brief instant, a string snapped behind him, and then a warm body bumped into him:

"Sir! Kill them! One death is better than them all dying..."

Shen Le turned around to see a Tibetan soldier already atop the boulder, bow drawn and arrow nocked. The first arrow was blocked by a woman who lunged at him; he grinned maliciously and drew his bow a second time…

Can't handle so much anymore!
It's better for one person to die than for this whole group to be driven like dogs and sheep by the Tibetans, sold off, and dragged to the plateau.

Over the course of thousands of miles across the snow-capped mountains, how many of these women and children will die? Thirty percent? Fifty percent? Or even more?
He gritted his teeth, brandished his sword, and charged forward. He charged towards the Tibetan soldiers who were holding the woman, and towards the scattered soldiers blocked in the middle by the boulders:
Kill one if you can, kill two if you can!
"what--"

The woman, who had been restrained by the Tibetan soldiers, was shoved toward Shen Le. She flailed her arms wildly, instinctively trying to grab onto Shen Le, or at least her only chance of survival.

Shen Le instinctively turned slightly to the side, reaching out his left hand to help her while gripping his steel knife tightly in his right, wary of the Tibetans opposite him. However, before he could even reach her, a splash of crimson blood filled his vision!
A long, agonizing scream rang in his ears. A fountain of blood gushed from the woman's neck, spraying directly into Shen Le's face;

Immediately afterwards, Shen Le felt a sharp pain in his waist and abdomen as a long knife pierced through the woman's body and then plunged straight into his ribs!
The intense pain instantly robbed him of his ability to move. By the time Shen Le reacted and tried to pull away from the blade to continue fighting, another steel blade had already viciously slashed down...

Everything went black. This darkness was particularly long, feeling like half a day before my vision cleared and I was back in the lab.

Shen Le sat there blankly for a while, finally catching her breath, and reached down to touch her ribs.

After removing the armor, the area below was flat; the clothing was intact without any damage, and pressing on it did not cause any pain.

"Yes, this is an illusion... it's the armor's memories... I..."

Surprisingly, after leaving the illusion, he didn't feel nauseous or want to vomit, unlike the nausea and discomfort he felt from killing someone.

He rubbed his ribs twice, then touched his whole body to make sure he was not injured and had no hidden dangers.

Looking back at the computer screen, the time displayed in the lower right corner showed that less than half an hour had passed.
"I probably spend this whole time spacing out..."

This time he was lucky; the armored vehicle didn't jump up and beat him relentlessly, nor did the helmet bang on his head to show its displeasure.

Shen Le estimated that his combat skills were acceptable in the eyes of the armor, and not too bad compared to its original owner.

However, it's not particularly strong:
"Hey, why are you falling apart again...? Is this because you haven't finished the game yet? Do you want me to keep trying? Well, don't fall apart! Just collapse already!!!"

Shen Le sighed and picked up the armor pieces and armor plates from the ground, then braided and strung them together one by one.

All the armor was in place, the helmet was put back on, the armor was donned, and the belt was fastened. Finally, everything went black again.
"Halt! Halt! — Surrender and you will be spared!"

Great, we're back to where we started...

Shen Le inhaled, exhaled, and spurred his horse forward. The first level wasn't difficult; just don't be a coward, fight, and kill all the opponents to succeed.
The second stage...

Staying in the beacon tower all night was pointless; as it turned out, the enemy still managed to raid our base, leaving us all alone. So—

Shen Le began his extreme maneuvers. He manually crafted traps—all sorts of traps: falling rocks, splinters, pitfalls, flip-flops…

When it was my turn to stand guard at night, I would set up those traps nearby, on all the main roads, and in all the places where the enemy might climb up!
I'm sending you here!
They persisted for more than a month, until the night of the enemy's massive attack finally arrived.

This time, when the first scream rang out beneath the beacon tower, Shen Le leaped up and lit the beacon fire:

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!!!"

Three ready-made crossbows, five bows, stones prepared in the beacon tower ready to be thrown down at any time, and beacon fires lit in a timely manner.

When their comrades rushed out of the room, they no longer had to fight hastily in the dark. Instead, they could fight in an orderly manner, firing crossbows, drawing bows, and throwing stones, all under the illumination of the beacon fires.

"I told you to come up here!"

"I told you not to use a sneak attack!"

"kill!"

"kill--"

This time, the Tibetan soldiers who came up to remove the beacon tower left behind about twenty corpses and fled in panic.

Inside the beacon tower, the five surviving soldiers looked at each other, then collapsed against the wall, exhausted, and burst into loud laughter:

Survived!

They survived!!!

Shen Le couldn't help but smile. Old Huang was dead; after all, he was old and frail and couldn't hold on during the fiercest battle.
A-Gu also died, taking a knife for two young soldiers to save them;

But Gouwazi is still alive, despite the knife wound to his shoulder. He'll probably be able to successfully propose and marry the girl he's been longing for when the shift changes...

"So why did the Tibetans suddenly attack? Should we go and take a look?"

"I'll go." Shen Le hesitated for a moment, then leisurely stood up. This time, he didn't consider changing his armor; instead, he donned iron armor, armed with a spear, steel sword, and bow and arrows, and quietly began to move.

"To sound the alarm at the fortress, we at least need to see it for ourselves—"

“I’ll go with you.” The armor blade beside him vibrated slightly, and Zhao Xiaohu, leaning on his spear, limped over.

The orphan born to this local woman, who only knew of his mother and not his father, now had eyes as bright as stars:
"If they're scouting at this time, it's most likely because a large force is about to pass through. I want to go and see for myself..."

"I am coming too!"

"I am coming too!"

Gouwazi and Erzhuma followed. Shen Le gently shook his head and first pressed Gouwazi down:
“Those who are injured shouldn’t follow. Xiao Hu, your leg is injured and you can’t run fast, so you should just sit still. If someone tries to sneak up on the sentry post again, someone has to guard the beacon tower, right?”

Finally, he led Erzhuma, one in front and one behind, quietly down the mountain, making their way into the dark mountain path. This time, they spotted the migrating caravan further away from the beacon tower:

"Ah Li, let's go down and take them out!"

Erzhuma gritted his teeth. Shen Le looked down for a while, then slowly shook his head:
"There aren't enough people. You're doing this..."

He whispered a few words in his ear. The foreign soldier nodded and turned to climb upwards. Shen Le sighed, and slowly made his way towards the house-sized boulder he had previously pried open:
Five people, five attack points—that should be enough to rescue more people!
After Shen Le finished dealing with the giant rock, all five soldiers in the beacon tower had arrived. This time, Shen Le assigned the wounded soldiers to the hillside, tasking them only with providing archery support.
"Alright! Wait for my signal. As soon as I light the fire, start pushing the rocks, and then take them down!"

"Kill them!!!"

This time, at the cost of three casualties, Shen Le and his men annihilated the Tibetan group that was escorting the women and children, and protected them as they returned to Khotan.

The moment they saw the city, the armor plates on their bodies vibrated and shone brightly!

Level cleared!!!

(End of this chapter)